Wind guard latch retainer

ABSTRACT

A latch retainer mechanism for securely holding the windrow pipe of an agricultural crop pickup.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to hay balers, and moreparticularly to improved mechanism for retaining the latch on the windguard of an agricultural crop pickup on a round baler.

For many years agricultural balers have been used to consolidate andpackage crop material so as to facilitate the storage and handling ofthe crop material for later use. Usually, a mower-conditioner cuts andconditions the crop material for windrow drying in the sun. When the cutcrop material is properly dried, a baler is pulled along the windrows topick up the crop material and form it into conveniently sized and shapedround bales. More specifically, the windrow pickup of the baler gathersthe cut and windrowed crop material and lifts it into the balingchamber. In a round baler, the baling chamber consists of a pair ofopposing sidewalls with a series of belts that rotate and compress thecrop material into a cylindrical shape. When the bale has achieved adesired size and density, the operator wraps the bale to ensure that thebale maintains its shape and density. The operator then raises thetailgate of the baler and ejects the bale onto the ground. The tailgateis then closed and the cycle repeated as necessary and desired to managethe field of cut crop material.

It has been customary to provide the pickup mechanism with wind guardswhich hold down the hay or other crop material as it is being fedrearwardly to prevent the crop material from being blown off the pickupfloor. Such guards also serve to channel the crop material to the feedmeans, the crop material having to pass through the space between thepickup floor and the wind guards. Typical wind guards are shown in U.S.Pat. Nos. 2,713,762; 2,872,772 and 4,411,127.

Conventional wind guards are fairly simple structures, and include anelongated pipe-like member, often referred to as a wind guard pipe,extending across the front of the pickup mechanism with a plurality oftines attached to the wind guard pipe along its length extendingrearwardly over the pickup mechanism. This type of wind guard may bemanually adjusted for different sizes of windrows of crop material bypositioning the wind guard pipe and the tines closer to the pickupmechanism for small windrows or farther away from the pickup mechanismfor large windrows. If the wind guard is adjusted for small windrows anda large windrow is encountered, the wind guard pipe and tines may be tooclose to the pickup mechanism to accommodate the large windrow. Thiscould cause plugging of the pickup mechanism. If the wind guard isadjusted for large windrows and a small windrow is encountered, the windguard tines may be too far away from the pickup mechanism to protect thesmall windrow. This could result in wind loss of crop material.

Most pickups employ a pair of support links pivotably affixed at therear of the pickup assembly and extending forwardly toward the front ofthe pickup assembly. The forward ends of these support links have aU-shaped to receive the wind guard pipe adjacent opposing endsthereof—though an upwardly open slot would work also. A relatively shortlatch is pivotably affixed near the forward end of each support link,one latch per support link, and has a semicircular cutout such that eachlatch may be rotated to partially encircle the windrow pipe while it isengaged with the U-shaped end of the respective support link, holding itin an operative position. A spring mechanism at the pivot point of eachlatch creates friction between each support link and respective latch tomaintain closure.

It has been found that crop material being picked up and fed between thepickup floor and the wind guard engages the forward ends of the supportlinks and respective latches, and on occasion overcomes the frictionholding the wind guard pipe in position. Thus, the wind guard pipe maycome loose and become ineffectual.

It would improve the operation of agricultural crop pickups if theproblems identified above could be overcome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide animproved attachment mechanism for the windrow pipe of an agriculturalpickup.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved latchmechanism for the windrow pipe of an agricultural pickup that ensuresproper operation and eliminates unwanted disengagement of the windrowpipe during operation.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a mechanism forpositive latching of the windrow pipe of a round baler pickup.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a retainer forthe latch mechanism of the wind guard pipe on the floating wind guard ofan agricultural crop pickup.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improvedlatching mechanism for the wind guard pipe of an agricultural croppickup that is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture,carefree of maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple, versatile andeffective in use.

These and other objects are attained by providing a latching mechanismfor securely holding the windrow pipe of an agricultural crop pickup.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages of this invention will be apparent upon consideration ofthe following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a round baler of the type withwhich the invention may be used;

FIG. 2A is a partial perspective, showing many of the components thatmake up the left end of the wind guard pipe support and latchingmechanism;

FIG. 2B is a partial top plan view of the wind guard pipe support andlatching mechanism of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a partial left end plan view of the forward end of the leftend of the wind guard pipe support, and the latching mechanism of theinstant invention;

FIG. 3A is a partial perspective, showing many of the components thatmake up the right end of the wind guard pipe support and latchingmechanism; and

FIG. 3B is a partial top plan view of the wind guard pipe support andlatching mechanism of FIG. 3A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Many of the fastening, connection, processes and other means andcomponents utilized in this invention are widely known and used in thefield of the invention described, and their exact nature or type is notnecessary for an understanding and use of the invention by a personskilled in the art, and they will not therefore be discussed insignificant detail. Also, any reference herein to the terms “left” or“right” are used as a matter of mere convenience, and are determined bystanding at the rear of the machine facing in its normal direction oftravel. Furthermore, the various components shown or described hereinfor any specific application of this invention can be varied or alteredas anticipated by this invention and the practice of a specificapplication of any element may already by widely known or used in theart by persons skilled in the art and each will likewise not thereforebe discussed in significant detail.

FIG. 1 shows an agricultural round baler 10 being pulled along a windrowof cut crop material 12 by a tractor T. Baler 10 is comprised of awheel-supported bale-forming mechanism 14 with a crop pickup 16 formoving the crop material 12 from the field into the bale-formingmechanism 14.

A wind guard pipe 20 is seen in FIG. 1 as an elongate pipe-like memberpivotably supported adjacent opposing ends by support links 22, 24. Therearward ends of the support links are pivotably affixed to the pickup16, and the wind guard pipe is supported by a pair of chains 26, 28fixed to the bale-forming mechanism. A plurality of tines 30 are affixedto wind guard pipe 20, extending rearwardly above the rotating pickupand thereby defining the path along which the cut crop material isdirected. In operation, the initial setting of the wind guard isestablished by chains 26, 28. The amount of swing of tines 30 on windguard pipe 20 is, in known manner, adjusted via limiting bracket 32 (seeFIGS. 3A and 3B and U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,127).

Referring now to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, the left end of the wind guardpipe latching mechanism of the instant invention can be seen. Supportlink 22 terminates forwardly in an open U-shaped slot 34 (FIG. 2C) intowhich wind guard pipe 20 is inserted. Latch plate 36 is pivotablyaffixed to support link 22 by spring bolt 38. The latch plate has asemi-circular cutout 40 that, when pivoted to the latched position,partially encompasses wind guard pipe 20 and holds it within slot 34.Spring bolt 38 is comprised of an elongate bolt 42 extending through acompression spring 46, support link 22 and latch plate 36, with a nut 44on the threaded end thereof holding the components together.

A carriage bolt 50, with a round head, is affixed to support link 22,with the round head on the side adjacent latch plate 36. Latch plate 36has a hole 52 therethrough in alignment with the round head of bolt 50such that, when pivoted to the latched position, the round head engageshole 52. The compression generated by spring 46 is adjusted such thatthe latch plate is “locked” in the latched position until thecompression is overcome intentionally by the operator or repairman.

The latching mechanism for the right end of the wind guard pipe isslightly different due to the need to accommodate limiting bracket 32.Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, it can be that a bent latch plate 60 ispivotably affixed to support link 24 by a spring bolt 62 which is aduplicate of spring bolt 38. Bent latch plate 60 is formed such that itmay accommodate the limiting bracket 32, yet still partially enclose thewind guard pipe 20 when in the latched position. Latch plate 60 alsocontains a semi-circular cutout, like that in latch plate 36 (not shownin profile, but shown in dotted line if FIG. 3B). In a manner similar tothat discussed above with regard to latch plate 36, bent latch plate 60has a hole 66 therethrough in line with the rounded head of carriagebolt 68.

In operation, the rounded head of the carriage bolt, when engaged withthe hole through the latch plate, serves as a retainer, i.e., a latchretainer. This retainer prevents the latch from inadvertently moving tothe unlatch position and releasing the wind guard pipe to move aboutfreely and interrupt the normal operation of the pickup 16. While acarriage bolt with a rounded head is described in the preferred mode,other similarly shaped protrusions could be used with success. Also,instead of a hole through the latch plate, some type of indentation or apartial hold would work as well.

It will be understood that changes in the details, materials, steps andarrangements of parts which have been described and illustrated toexplain the nature of the invention will occur to and may be made bythose skilled in the art upon a reading of this disclosure within theprinciples and scope of the invention. The foregoing descriptionillustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention; however,concepts, as based upon the description, may be employed in otherembodiments without departing from the scope of the inventions.Accordingly, the following claims are intended to protect the inventionbroadly as well as in the specific form shown.

1. A wind guard for use on a pickup mechanism attachable to the frame of a crop harvesting machine, said wind guard comprising: an elongate wind guard pipe extending transversely of said pickup mechanism; a plurality of tines attached to said wind guard pipe along the length thereof; said wind guard pipe being movable in a first direction upwardly and away from said pickup mechanism and in a second direction downwardly and toward said pickup mechanism during operation of said pickup mechanism; first and second support links supporting said wind guard pipe, each having first and second opposing ends, said first ends of said support links pivotably affixed to said pickup mechanism; said second ends of said first and second support links each having an open U-shaped slot therein into which said wind guard pipe is fitted; a first latch plate having a semi-circular cutout therein of a diameter sufficient to partially enclose said wind guard pipe, said first latch plate pivotably affixed to said first support link adjacent said U-shaped slot therein and movable between a latched position where said cutout partially encloses said wind guard pipe and an unlatched position where said cutout does not partially enclose said wind guard pipe; and a latch retainer interconnectable between each said respective latch plate and support link to prevent inadvertent movement of said first and second latch plates to the unlatched position.
 2. The wind guard of claim 1, wherein: said first and second latch plates are pivotably affixed to said respective first and second support links by spring bolts.
 3. The wind guard of claim 2, wherein: each said latch retainer includes a hole through the respective latch plate and a carriage bolt affixed through the respective support link, the rounded head of the carriage bolt positioned to engage said hole through the respective latch plate when the respective latch plate is in said latched position.
 4. The wind guard of claim 3, wherein: said support links are positioned such that the respective first ends thereof are adjacent the ends of said wind guard pipe. 